Cycle of Time
by DragonRider122
Summary: A series of moments between Korra and her Waterbending master. Set pre-season one.
1. Chapter 1

** DISCLAIMER: Korra ain't mine.**

"Korra, are you even listening to me?" Katara demanded, letting the water whip she had been demonstrating splash onto the snow. Korra had been making astonishing progress with her Waterbending training, and as a reward Katara decided to let the girl learn one of the more advanced techniques her element had to offer. But something was wrong today; Korra was struggling to perform the maneuver, and half the time Katara suspected her pupil hadn't heard a word she said. The elder bender set her hands on her hips, a posture her children had seen many times.

Korra bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Sifu. I….I just…." With some alarm Katara noticed the girl shaking, fingers trembling as she curled them into fists. "I want to learn the water whip; really, I do. But there's...something I need to ask you. Something I need to know." Korra shut her eyes tightly and blurted "Do you hate me?"

Katara simply gaped like a koi, dumbfounded. At first she had balked at teaching her husband's reincarnation, but as soon as she met Korra, there was an instant connection between them. Katara had astonished the White Lotus members, along with Senna and Tonraq, when they saw her ability to get Korra to behave when nobody else could. That had been three years ago, when Korra was five, and their bond only grew stronger with each passing day. "I—what—why would you ever think that?" she finally stammered, reaching out and placing both hands on the Avatar's shoulders. "Of course not!"

"I—when I—" Korra's eyes were still screwed shut, but tears began to trickle from beneath the clenched lids. "When I was born, Aang died! It's my fault he's dead…" She broke into sobs, shoulders shaking. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Sifu…"

"Oh, Korra." Katara pulled the girl close, feeling immensely guilty as Korra threw her arms around Katara, buried her face in Katara's parka and cried. "I don't hate you," she repeated, pressing a soft kiss to her pupil's hair. "People have to die. That's the way life is. Aang would have passed on whether or not he was the Avatar. And remember that he was actually 166 years old," she said with a slight chuckle. "Most people only live half that long."

She felt the girl's trembling diminish even though Korra didn't take her head from Katara's chest. "I loved Aang with all my heart," the elder bender continued, feeling the ache that was still there even after almost ten years. "He was my soulmate. But you're like another grandchild to me, Korra, and if getting my husband back would mean losing you, then I wouldn't want that."

"Really?" Korra sniffled, pulling back slightly to wipe her eyes. Katara nodded, gently placing a hand underneath the young Avatar's chin and tilting it up until their gazes locked.

"I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

** DISCLAIMER: Korra ain't mine.**

**I think there was some episode where Aang and Katara had a snowball fight, but I don't remember. ^^;**

* * *

"Sifu Katara!"

The old woman turned, a greeting on her lips as the younger bender dashed up to her and, panting, dropped into a bow. "I'm so sorry I'm late; Naga ran off in the middle of the night chasing penguins and I couldn't rest until I found her and then one of my mittens fell off in the water and I had to get another pair and—"

Katara laughed and waved Korra off, stooping slightly to set a hand on the dark-haired girl's head (it had been years since her knees allowed her to get on and off the ground easily). "Don't trouble yourself, Korra, your mother told me you'd be a bit behind this morning. I thought we should take a break today. Not that I don't think you're up to training," she added quickly, seeing her pupil begin to frown, "but you've been working so hard, you deserve a rest. Besides, I did promise you we would have some fun together, didn't I?"

Korra nodded eagerly, springing to her feet. "Sifu, there's something I really, really want to do!" she exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "But I—I don't know if you can do it with waterbending…" She bit her lip, excitement all of a sudden replaced with anxiety. Katara smiled and set her hands on Korra's small shoulders.

"Well, why don't we find out? What is it?"

Korra's blue eyes sparkled as she eagerly asked "Can we have a snowball fight?"

_Oh ho._ Katara chuckled. "Korra, even my husband wouldn't have had the courage to ask me what you just did. He found out the hard way that you never, _ever_ challenge a master Waterbender to snowball fight!" As she spoke, the old woman lifted her arms, curling her hands so that her fingertips met. All the snow within a three-foot radius of the two benders lifted off the ground and condensed itself into several small spheres that immediately began hurling themselves at the young Avatar. Korra shrieked and covered her arms with her head.

"No fair, we didn't say 'go'!" she cried, yelping as some snow found its way into the collar of her parka.

"All's fair in love and war," Katara laughed, taking a few seconds to condense two snowballs into one. Korra dropped her arms and tried to send a wave of snow at Katara, but the elder bender easily turned it to pure water that simply dropped on the ground.

Approximately half an hour and one very cold Avatar later, Korra was sitting in Katara's hut with a cup of hot tea and a blanket around her shoulders. She'd bended the moisture out of her clothing, of course, but the garments were still freezing. Korra sighed and propped her head on her fists, watching Katara morosely as her sifu prepared some seaweed noodles. "How'd you get so good at that?" she grumbled, obviously stung from the loss.

Katara smiled, turning around and winking at her young pupil. "Lots of practice, Korra, and like I said, I'm a master Waterbender. I have my secrets."

"I want a rematch when I master waterbending!" Korra declared immediately, fixing Katara with a challenging look. Katara shrugged and smirked.

"All right, Korra, but don't be surprised if you lose again."

* * *

"Hey, how did your practice session with Master Kat—" Mako trailed off as a sopping wet and VERY grumpy-looking Korra tramped into the house. His eyebrows rose. "Um, what…?"

"Shut up, Mako," she growled, bending the water from her clothes and hurling it at him. He yelped as the freezing liquid splattered his skin.

"What did I do?" he demanded.

"She's just a sore loser." Katara was looking very pleased with herself as she shut the door to the house. Mako decided not to ask.

* * *

**AN: The last bit is post-S1, just in case there was any confusion.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Korra doesn't belong to me. Yet. Muahaha.**

**….I have no excuse for this.**

* * *

This was a new one on Katara.

Korra had come to her with problems before, of course. Even after she mastered waterbending, the young Avatar had remained extremely close with her teacher. It wasn't uncommon for Korra to wander in after firebending training and eagerly tell Katara all about a new move she had learned. Katara often watched, of course, but now and again there were days when her bones felt too stiff to do more than move about the house. Sometimes Korra would try another useless shot at airbending and head to Katara for advice, comfort or just a friendly ear to listen as she vented.

But today was different. The minute Katara greeted her young friend, Korra had turned red and barely managed to mumble a "hello". She'd dropped into a chair at the table and refused to look up, except for sneaking glances every few minutes when she apparently thought Katara didn't see. The elder bender was puzzled but didn't pry; if her experiences with Kya had taught her anything, it's that teenaged girls didn't take well to blunt questioning.

After setting a teakettle down on the table and bending liquid into two cups, one of which she gave to Korra, Katara settled back into her seat. "Is everything all right, dear? You seem a bit…flustered." Her lips quirked slightly. "It's not Howl, is it?"

"No, not him." Korra dropped her head, hands tightening around her mug. "Sifu….I…..I…."

"What is it?" Katara asked gently when Korra didn't continue. "You can tell me anything, Korra. As long as it's not something that's hurting you, I won't even tell your mother and father if you don't want."

That clearly sealed the deal. Cyan eyes squeezed shut as Korra blurted out: "I think I'm a lesbian!"

Of all the things her pupil could have said, that was certainly not one of them. Katara blinked, dumbfounded as her cup hit the table with a soft _thunk_. "….I see. And what made you come to this conclusion?"

Korra's face flushed a color that would make Zuko's scar jealous. "I—I had a dream last night, Sifu. About….about kissing….well, you. B—but you were younger, my age!" she quickly added, eyes darting back down to the tabletop. "It'd be creepy if I liked you now. I mean, you're old. Not that you're creepy! I—argh!" Korra buried her head in her arms, positively scarlet.

Katara laughed as she reached over and gently shook Korra's arm. Things were starting to make a bit more sense. "How do you know it was me, Korra? And where were we when we kissed?"

"Um…" Korra's face faded slightly as she looked up and considered the questions. "Your hair was the same—the loopies and all—but I just…knew. And…we were on some sort of balcony in a city. It was sunset."

Katara nodded. "I thought so."

It was Korra's turn to blink now. "What?"

"Korra, you were having a dream from your past life. It was the first time Aang and I kissed—properly, that is," Katara said with a faraway smile. "We were at The Jasmine Dragon—the tea shop owned by Zuko's uncle in Ba Sing Se. It was right after the war ended." She took a sip from her cup again, lost in another time.

"Oh. So….I was feeling what Aang did?" Korra asked after a few moments, too lost in her own thoughts to notice Katara's lapse into silence.

"That's my guess," Katara confirmed with a nod. "Not that there's anything wrong with you liking girls, of course, and you may actually be a lesbian. But from what you described, I'm fairly sure it was only a dream."

"You seem…I don't know…more okay with it than I thought you'd be. I mean, if I told any of the Order members that, they'd probably act like I was Ozai all over again," Korra said with a faintly embarrassed snort. Most of the color had gone from her face by now.

Katara laughed. "One of my very good friends after the war was in love with another girl. Remember me telling you about Ty Lee?"

"She was the chi-blocker, right?" Korra asked with interest.

"That's the one. Anyhow, Ty Lee actually fell in love with Zuko's sister Azula."

"Really? She did?" Korra's eyes were wide. "How the heck…? I mean, wasn't Azula all…"

"She was," Katara said with a hint of sadness. "But she told me the story once. Would you like to hear it?" As Korra nodded, she took another sip of tea and began: "Ty Lee and Azula met when they were only five years old…"

* * *

**BECAUSE I LOVE TYZULA, DAMMIT. .**


End file.
